Harry Potter and the Last Stand
by LilWichita
Summary: Harry doesn't grow up with the Dursleys. Why? And what's his relationship with a pretty Muggle-born girl? Will love blossom between Harry and Hermione even through a war? And how does Ginny Weasley play into this? An action-filled romance. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not my property. There's a lovely British woman called Joanne who does. The films belong to Warner Brothers.

A/N: This is an AU where an unforeseen event causes huge changes in the timeline. I needed to create a situation where Harry didn't end up with Petunia. Readers shall get **Harry/Hermione** or **Harry/Ginny** depending on the circumstances! Be forewarned. Lots of actions and romance to keep you happy. Just think that this is as MI2 crossed with Kintora's beautiful Deja Blue (KH lovers, read it! Highly rec'ced)

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>**: ****The First Change**

**Diagon Alley,**

**1979**

Smoke rolled as ash fell like snow. The silvery moon rose over the night. Inhuman screams slashed the sky.

Lily jumped forward. Her green eyes, glowing brilliant with ferocity, searched for her comrades. It wasn't going so well: she could only see James, who was duelling in front of her. The streaks of spells and curses roaring around her made it hard to concentrate. Why did everything have to be difficult for her and the Order of the Phoenix? Only minutes ago, Lily was braiding her red hair, when Remus stumbled in her bedroom and declared that Diagon Alley was under attack. Death Eaters, werewolves, and Inferi. Fate never gave up.

The hulking figure of a werewolf, fur gleaming silver, loomed over her shoulder. The beast brandished its claws, as Lily prepared an offensive spell. However, before she could fire the Impendimenta Jinx, a levitating steel beam slammed into the werewolf and skewered it against a wall.

"You looked like you needed a hand," said a young man from Lily's right. Murmuring a quick _Depulso_ under his breath, he hurled another werewolf away from their vicinity.

Lily gave the man a narrowed stare, and he winced. The sheen of the moon against her red hair created the illusion of a burning fire.

"I don't need help, James," said Lily carefully.

"You're my fiancée," replied James. "I need to protect you."

"I don't _need_ to be protected. I know what I'm doing."

When James tried to retort something in return, Lily spotted Alice Longbottom, who was struggling with a masked Death Eater. Lily seized the opportunity. She darted away James and swished her wand towards the tautened Alice.

"_Reducto!_" shouted Lily.

A stream of red light collided into the Death Eater, knocking him out. Alice shot Lily a grateful look, as she summoned a number of ropes over the unconscious Death Eater.

"Thanks, Lils," said Alice softly. "For a moment, I was scared. I even wondered if I was going to make it…"

"No worries. Best friends, right?"

Alice nodded. "Always."

Lily fired a _Bombarda_ at a pair of Inferi which were slithering towards her. The evil creatures disintegrated.

"Having boy troubles, Lils?" asked Alice, as she shot a violet spell at the roof of a storefront. The building – Madam Malkins – exploded, raining debris and tiles over the Death Eaters, distracting them.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Lily.

"I think you so," murmured Alice. "Is James smothering you again?"

Lily ignored Alice's little comment. There was flurry of movement, and Lily slammed a nearby werewolf with enough fire spells to incinerate it.

"Just because you're engaged to him doesn't mean that you should let him walk over you," insisted Alice.

Lily's face twitched. The urgent tone in Alice's voice wasn't something she wanted to deal with now.

"Alice, we'll talk about this _later_," said Lily darkly. "Aren't you forgetting that a bunch of monsters who are trying to butcher us? No time to chat."

Disregarding Alice's imploring look, Lily tried to muster her magic over a horde of Inferi which were screeching ahead of her. Her green eyes burned, as she drew upon her inner-most sorcerous energies. She lifted her wand.

"This will going to get messy," Lily said, waving her wand. "_Rescendo!_"

The vile creatures buckled at the knees, unable to disobey Lily's spell. With a burst of yellow light, the twisted corpses crumpled and twitched on the ground. Relief glinted pulsed through Lily's mind. Victory was near –

Then, it happened. Pain struck her like a jackhammer. Lily dropped her control over the Inferi as she gasped. Clawing at her mind, the inner magical energies exploded within her abdomen with the heat of twenty stars.

"No… What's happening," she cried, clutching her stomach.

James and Alice were already by her side.

"Lily? What's wrong? Lily!"

Shuddering, Lily tried to subdue the preternatural tumult thrashing inside her heart. But this magical force was just so… _powerful_. Lily buckled in James's feet.

"My stomach… it hurts so much…" Lily whispered.

"Your stomach?" James repeated, his eyes widening. "Lily, it couldn't possibly be the bab–"

Burning with strength, the pain in her abdomen flared again, like an exploding sun. Lily choked in pain. When a Death Eater tried to exploit Lily's predicament, Alice noticed and spurted a twist of blue light outwards from her wand. The hex rendered the masked man speechless and choking for breath.

"_Stupefy!_" screamed Alice, following up.

Red light slammed into the man's face, rending him into unconsciousness.

"James, if you want to give Lily medical treatment, we have to leave now," said Alice urgently. "The situation here at Diagon isn't getting any better, and will probably only get worse."

James looked grim.

"James… I can't hold any longer," whispered Lily.

James grasped his fiancée's hand.

"You'll be alright, you'll see," he murmured in a tight voice.

"But James, I – " Lily lurched forward. "_Ah!_"

Lily squirmed in agony. Then, with a burst of fiery light, a ray of shimmering energy coalesced around her stomach, as she collapsed in a heap. A crimson bolt of light streaked the clouds. All around Diagon Alley, people stopped even their fighting to stare at the strange phenomenon coalescing above them.

The Inferi screeched, as the skyborne blaze thickened.

Holding Lily's limp form in his arms, James could only watch as the scorching form of energy soared into the bloodstained sky and disappear through the clouds. Behind the couple, Alice Longbottom shuddered.

"James," Alice said in a small, fearful voice. "Do you know what has happened?"

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><p><strong>Godric's Hollow<strong>

**1980**

"Lily, breathe! You can do it!"

James clasped Lily's hand, while Madam Pomfrey siphoned away the blood and reapplied the chlorofoam. Lily shivered and arched upwards, as another contraction wracked her frame. Fingers clawed at the bedsheets, and Lily felt her palms become clammy and pale, like the hospital wing walls around her. She moaned in anguish when the matron ordered for her to "Push, Lily, push, push!" for the baby that was trying to escape her womb.

Her tired green eyes wandered to the medicinal cabinet in the corner. How many more potions would she need before this ordeal was over? When will it end?

"I need another Blood Replenisher," called out Madam Pomfrey . "She's hemorrhaging too quickly!"

Lily bit her lip, clenching in pain. Something had happened to her birth, and there were complications. The baby was tearing her insides and rupturing her blood vessels. With each moment, Lily felt her breath shorten. She closed her eyes against the bright lightbulbs above her head.

She wondered if she would have to die for her child.

"Push, Lily! The baby is crowning!"

Lily cried out against the hot pain which pulsed from her stomach to her groin. When she tautened and pushed, there was a squishing sound. Blood was flowing, wet and red.

"James, I can't keep her like this any longer," said Madam Pomfrey to James. "If we don't hurry, I won't have enough Blood Replenishers. James!"

James drew in closer.

"Lily, can you hear me?" he whispered. "You have to stay strong. One more push, okay? One more push."

Her breath was shaky, and her entire body trembled, but Lily nodded and as the next contraction knotted her abdomen she pushed, hard, and screamed. The child was expelled from her body with a rush of amniotic fluid and blood.

"A boy! Lily, you have a son," said Madam Pomfrey.

Lily couldn't see the child from her current position, but she could hear the slap of flesh followed by its piercing, healthy cry. She fought to catch her breath as the slimed placenta passed and James took the baby in his arms. A swell of happiness rose in her when she saw the sheer look of awe in James's face upon receiving the child. Lily knew that everything was perfect at that moment.

"No…" was the low murmur from Madam Pomfrey, shattering the illusion of peace.

The matron fumbled to stem Lily's bleeding. However, the wound refused to clot; her blood was strangely too thin and her body too weak. Madam Pomfrey pointed her wand downwards and began to mutter a string of healing charms. Lily closed her eyes and shuddered. The pregnancy was supposed to go without a hitch. The stage had been set: James had set a spring wedding, like Frank and Alice's one. Sirius was the best man, and Alice was the maid of honour. Even Petunia begrudgingly tried to attend it, although she ultimately opted to join Vernon on a business trip.

Despite the war, things were going swimmingly.

But then that day in Diagon Alley. Her stomach had hurt so much, and even though a heavy dose of potions revived her, the pain never truly dissipated. Lily knew that the events of the Diagon raid had changed something within her, something with the pregnancy. Everything was ending.

"Sarah, I need another Blood-Replenishing Elixir," Madam Pomfrey said to her assistant.

Lily watched as the assistant rushed out of the room to grab some potions. James pulled the room's only chair to her bedside and sat in it, rocking the newborn in his arms. The baby gurgled a little, releasing a sound that made Lily's heart flutter in joy.

"Lily, I—" James swallowed, throat dry. "Do you want to hold him?"

Wearily, Lily nodded. James held the child out to her. The babe had quietened, his face scarlet, dark eyes blue as all newborns' eyes were. She lifted her hand to rest her fingers upon his hot, soft cheek, and she trembled, tears tricking down her temples.

"You're so small." Lily stroked the baby's head. "So small…"

This was her son! Something made of her own flesh and blood. When she brushed back the baby's few wisps of hair, Lily felt tears rose anew in her green eyes. Beside her, James was trembling. He clenched his fists and wiped his glasses.

"_Harry_." Lily cradled the sleeping babe in her arms. "I think I'll call you Harry James Potter."

The assistant chose to run into the room at that instance. She pressed the bottles of Blood-Replenishing Elixirs into Madam Pomfrey's hands. The matron uncorked the first vial and put it to Lily's chalky lips.

"Lily, I need you to drink this," said Madam Pomfrey.

Shivering, Lily swallowed reflexively. Almost immediately she felt vitality filling her body again, her waxen cheeks regaining their colour. But she still bled from the womb, and when Madam Pomfrey moved to Lily's feet, a tumult of sadness coiled in the matron's expression. The assistant hissed something to Madam Pomfrey, who nodded grimly. James flared up.

"Well, what is it?" he barked, masking his panic with anger. "Just spit it out."

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Sarah has informed me that we have no more Blood Replenishers in our stock. We will either need to brew some more elixirs or find a way to stymie the bleeding. My spells aren't working, for some reason. We will need the help of another Healer."

"What do you mean?" asked James in a tight voice.

"I'm guessing that Lily's wound isn't natural. Spell damage, most likely," explained Madam Pomfrey calmly. "We all knew that there were going to be complications with the birth, but this is beyond my control. I would advise moving Lily to St Mungo's, where she could receive more professional help."

Hearing Madam Pomfrey voice her opinion out loud made Lily's dire situation more horrifyingly real. Lily tightened her grip around baby Harry. James looked like he was about to burst.

"Poppy, you know that isn't an option!" yelled James. "Dumbledore told us that the Death Eaters have infiltrated St Mungo's, and Lily has already been blacklisted because of her heritage. We can't, I can't – "

Madam Pomfrey wrung her hands. She gave James a pitying look. "Then, I'm truly sorry."

"No, what do you mean, you can't– "

Lily feebly touched James's hand, grabbing his attention. "James, don't."

James turned towards Lily. His cheeks were streaked with tears. He leaned forward, drawing his face closer to Lily's.

"Lily, you can't do this," he whispered. "I need you to live."

Lily winced again.

"Lily," James repeated softly, speaking her name as if it carried a terrible weight, and she heard all that he did not repeat. He waited for her answer.

Lily took a deep, laborious breath. "James, I need you to be brave."

James stared at her, speechless, for several moments. Then, finally, "Why?" His voice cracked. "You can't do this, Lily. Please, Lily."

He lifted his hand and brushed his fingers against her cheek with immeasurable tenderness. Lily shuddered and leaned against the bedspread.

"James." Lily was almost inaudible. "Your son needs you. Harry needs you. And I know that you are strong. You can survive."

Lily's vision began to blur at the edges. She was tired, and something was dragging her into nothingness. Her grip around Harry loosened. Noticing, James took the babe from Lily's arms and into his own. He passed Harry to a grim-looking Madam Pomfrey. James's eyes were straining with tears.

"You're stronger than me, Lily," croaked James. "I can't be alone. Lily, don't do this. Don't die for your son – "

Weakly, Lily placed her left hand over James's right and squeezed. Her green eyes burned with a resoluteness that belied her sickly state.

"You won't be alone, you'll have Harry."

Another wrack of pain washed over Lily's nerves, causing her to gasp and fold over. Her skin became pasty with sweat, as the sounds around her receded into a numb, static noise. She was only dimly aware of James hovering over her. He was clutching her shoulders, begging her. Pleading to her.

Lily adjusted her gaze to the matron behind James. The baby in Madam Pomfrey's arms was beautiful, with cherubic cheeks and a serene expression. Lily felt a small pang of love and affection towards Harry.

"Harry…" Lily felt herself fade away. "Such a sweet boy. So small…"

When Lily closed her eyes, James tensed and thrust forward. His eyes widened, as his voice caught in his throat. Madam Pomfrey exchanged a look with Sarah.

"Lily, no… Wake up, please… Lily!"

James shook Lily by the shoulders, yet those great eyes remained lifelessly closed. After passing the baby into Sarah's hands, Madam Pomfrey rushed forward to conduct the standard spells. Nothing seemed to work. James shuddered and staggered to Lily's side, nearly collapsing.

The baby Harry opened his eyes and began to wail into the night, unheard.


End file.
